Feature request: output progress indicator in --print mode
Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Mar 20, 2026 by mulka Closed May 11, 2026
Summary
When running claude --print (non-interactive mode), there is no visual feedback while the model is working. For long-running tasks with multiple tool calls, the terminal appears frozen until output is finally printed.
Proposed behavior
Output a small progress indicator (e.g. a period .) to stderr for each tool call made during execution. This gives users a sense that work is happening without polluting the actual stdout output.
Example:
\\\\
$ claude --print "refactor this file"
...........
<final output here>
\\
Why this matters
--printmode is commonly used in scripts and pipelines where the process may run for tens of seconds or minutes- Without feedback, it's impossible to distinguish "still working" from "hung"
- Writing progress to stderr keeps stdout clean for piping
Alternatives considered
- A
--progressflag to opt in to this behavior - A spinner instead of periods
- A
--quietflag to suppress it if added by default
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